I just think, in a weird way, that Harden is both the reason they made it to the WCF last year, and their utter and complete collapse thereafter. He is not a player you build around, plain and simple.
It's funny because I used to think I would take Harden over Westbrook. I remember thinking that OKC kept the wrong guy. Now..... I would 100% take Westbrook over Harden.
Westbrook drives me nuts, I hate the guy... but the dude can ball... except mostly for when it matters. lol.
Calm down and carry on Skippy. Please show me where I called Harden a loser. I didn't. You're making up shit I didn't say. It doesn't help your case. So, Harden has accomplished more in his 7 years in the league than Lillard has in his 4? BFD, get back to me after Lillard's 7th season and we'll make that comparison again. Also, Harden has had the advantage of better teammates. Get back to me after Lillard has had the luxury of playing with a 4-time scoring champion and a 3-time defensive player of the year. In terms of head-to head accomplishments: Lillard 1 Harden 0 BNM
Harden left college earlier, also this seems like a can't win situation for him. He accepts the role as 6th man on a loaded team and gets 0 credit for this right? Brooks even asked if he wanted to start and he told him no, he continued to come off the bench and in his own words was content with that as long as they paid him the salary he thought he deserved. The Thunder by the way haven't been to the finals without James Harden. No, Harden was the reason they almost went up 2-0 against the Warriors and if Dwight did anything at all against his matchup they probably do.
Okay, so he gets joint custody on the child known as blame at best. Still stands to reason he is not someone you build around.
It is incredibly rare for players/coaches to say anything remotely negative about other players/coaches. They speak in platitudes rather than saying anything meaningful. Unless someone is saying something that goes well beyond a platitude I don't put any stock in the words of players/coaches. I don't care at all about what players do in their private lives (unless it's dog fighting, or something similar). But when your teammates are all going with the protocol and you're the lone wolf - well, you're an asshole. We'll find out in a few months if players are hyped about teaming up with him. Last I recall Bosh preferred to go back to a "worse" roster in Miami, than join the paper tiger Rockets.
Come on man, you had not a single positive thing to say about him. You can be technical about the term if you want but you certainly don't think he's a winner. Harden and Lillard are about the same age, he came out of college earlier and has more years on his NBA career because of being the better prospect. So I'm not sure how that's a knock against him. Head to head doesn't really mean much especially since we are talking about who is the better player or teammate.
Please don't tell me you want to have an argument over whether Dame or Beard is the better teammate. Beard may be the more skilled player, but in no way could he ever be considered a better teammate - ever.
http://deadspin.com/austin-rivers-on-relationship-with-his-father-we-know-1773657468 Austin Rivers on his pops... I always figured his dad was playing him because he cared about him, I guess he is just a horrible judge of talent.
What about Ex-players and teammates? Coach K named him the leader of the team, why didn't he name Curry of all people? Seems odd for a player that's a horrible teammate and selfish player. Seems odd that he declined to start on the Thunder. Also Bosh got more money in Miami. Can't I just say that LMA wasn't interested in being Dame's teammate any more too? It wouldn't be fair at all would it? Look, I'm not here to diss Dame. He's a great player and seems like a great teammate. Harden is too though and a lot of the crap he gets about being selfish but they really don't understand the situation which is this team has no offense, they barely have sets. Their offense is relying on Harden and he gets flack for doing what is asked of him by the team to do. This is their offense, it's been like this. The take turns playing ISO ball and it turns out Harden is better at that then Ariza, Beverly, or whoever else is on the team. As for his defense, I can't even tell. The whole team's defense is crap, people highlight those Harden plays as if anyone on the Rockets is stopping anyone right now unfortunately. I mean Beverly and Ariza were torn apart last night and Howard gets outplayed by at least 50% of the league's centers.
Dame has only CJ for offense, and no one else. Harden does have Howard. Dame made it work with all the others to get theirs. Harden didn't.
In the sports fraternity at large it's rare for anyone to say anything negative about anyone else. The fact that there are any spoken negative rumblings regarding Harden speaks volumes. LMA didn't want to be Dame's teammate - totally true. But that speaks more to LMA than it does Dame. LMA didn't like Oden or Roy either, because they took the spotlight that he craved but was never willing to step into. We don't have any sets either - everything we do is basically freelance. Beard is a very talented player. But he also appears to be a big ass-hat prima donna, and he's an absolute disgrace to the game of basketball. These things are not mutually exclusive.
This is one bad year though? Harden has been on great teams every single year of his career, this feels a lot like kicking a man when he's down. ALso... No, Howard is a terrible example. Howard couldn't work with Nash, Pau Gasol, or Kobe. Look at what ex teammates say about Howard, it's not pretty. If what players say is true then Howard is a lot like that guy you play ball with that always wants the ball and when you give it to him bricks most of the time and then mopes around when the rest of the team realizes he can't score so focus on getting offense other ways. I'm really not sure how he's supposed to work with him.
I haven't heard any player negatively speak about Harden, either his current teammates or his ex-teammate. Even so, again no one is perfect. Rocket fans realize Hakeem had ego issues too. I've seen plenty bad said about Dwight from Ex-Magic and Ex-Lakers teammates. I really don't know how much of this to blame is on Dwight Howard but I'm just saying, he has a track record for ruining team chemistry and Harden doesn't. That is to say that if the Rockets rebound after this then this season will be an aberration in his career.
